Kissed by the baddest bidder scattered cards
by Lexy3643
Summary: This follows the scattered cards story line from the game. Things seem to be going smoothly when suddenly Eisuke takes Freya back to Japan without a word. Things start to get complicated but Freya is determined to help Eisuke and become his equal
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

It's been several months since I started working at the Tres Spades London. I was running late, normally I would always try to be on time for my shifts. This morning, as soon as I woke up I was cuddling with my fiancé and one thing led to another and I ended up leaving the penthouse late.

I thought he'd go easy on me since it was first thing this morning, but no. It's been like this almost every morning, not that I was complaining of course. At least Eisuke did my hair for me this morning, so all I needed to do was getting changed. I ran into the locker room, went to my locker and started to get changed.

I then heard Erika's clicky heals as she came over to me. "Good morning Erika." I said out of politeness.

"Can't you come in here a little more quietly? You still have plenty of time before your shift starts."

"Sorry, I'm running late. I'm not used to getting here this late."

"Manners are very important here in England. Don't you know that yet?"

"Of course I know that. I'm not stupid, now leave me alone." I hissed back at here, making her walk away in a huff.

I changed my clothes, felt my hair and made sure it felt tidy when I noticed that I was still wearing my ring. I wanted to keep it on, mainly so I could make Erika jealous but I wasn't allowed. I pulled it off, slipped it onto the chain that I kept round my neck and tried to fasten it back on. I struggled with the clip on the back of the chain, but I couldn't get it hooked and the chain slipped from my fingers.

"No no no no no." I said frantically and started crawling around on the floor desperately searching for my ring. I heard it bounce but I didn't know which direction it went in.

"Honestly Freya, you need to take better care of such a precious thing." Chisato said. She walked over to me and put the ring in my hand.

"Oh my god, thank you so much." I said and stood up.

Chisato had got married in London and had been on her honeymoon but now she was back and she was working in London. She had already met my friends, we had all been out several times for dinner and drinks. Other then Chisato and Erika, there were no other regulars working here.

"Make sure you keep your ring on." Chisato said. "You'd be devastated if you lost something that important."

"You're right, thank you so much." I gave her the chain and she helped me fasten it around my neck. "Thank you."

"Let's go."

"Ok." I said.

We left the locker room together and headed for the morning staff meeting. After the morning meeting, I went to the storage room with Chisato and told her all about Eisuke proposing to me.

"Congratulations. I can't believe you're getting married."

"Well, we haven't actually spoken about the wedding yet. I didn't realise how much it involves. How did you cope?"

She giggled "You'll be fine, you always are. But admit it, this is the happiest you've ever been."

"Yes, I am."

"I mean, you two are already in loves but I'm sure now it feels ten times better."

"Is that how you felt when you got engaged?"

"Yes, but the hard part is still to come." She said, her voice went from cheerful to serious and stern.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, meeting the parents, wedding planning, honeymoon, post-wedding life. It's hard work. And I'm sure you both will have very different opinions on each other's job. You should be careful."

"Is it really that hard?" I asked.

"I was naïve too. We got engaged because we were attracted to each other. But we fought a lot the night before we got married." She said.

I bet it was tough, I could tell by the tone of her voice. But I was convinced me and Eisuke would be fine, we had already been through so much plus we argue a lot anyway. That certainly wouldn't change.

We got what we needed and as we left the store room, we heard someone arguing in Japan.

"Are those guests Japanese?" Chisato asked.

"Sounds like it. We should stop them." I said. We placed our supplies on the floor and found a Japanese couple arguing in the corridor.

"Why? You told me I could keep working once we got married." The woman shouted.

"Well, I'd rather you stay at home." The man said. "We're going to have kids soon, and there's the housework to think about."

"We talked about this already hundreds of times." The woman shouted.

"Uh-oh. They're fighting about her working after they get married." Chisato said.

"I remember them. They're here on a pre-wedding vacation. They seemed fine yesterday when I gave her a beauty treatment. She was very excited to be getting married." I said.

How could things change after one night? At any rate, we stepped in and stopped the fight.

"Please, calm down." I said.

"Why don't you go back to your room and discuss this calmly?" Chisato suggested.

"Absolutely not. He's telling a completely different story than he was a few days ago. And unless you change your mind, I'm not going to marry you." The woman shouted angrily and stomped down the hallway, pushing pasts us.

Now it was really awkward, just standing here with the man who let out a big sigh.

"See, this is what happens when I say how I really feel. That's why I kept it to myself till now." He said.

"I understand how you feel. I'm sure your fiancée will come back in a while." Chisato said.

"Why don't you wait in the hotel café? It's by the lobby so you'll be able o see right away when she returns." I said.

"Thank you, I'll do that." he said and walked away.

Could me and Eisuke end up like that couple? We always did argue and it's not like we were always on the same page either. Chisato seemed to pick up on my mood and tried to cheer me up.

"Hey it's ok. You'll be fine. You guys have been through so much and you've always gotten through it, right?"

"Yeah I guess." I said. But lately it seemed that whenever we solved one problem, another would arise. And we hadn't even really discussed the specifics about our future together either. My penthouse pager then buzzed, breaking me from my train of thought.

"Do you have to go?" Chisato asked.

"Yeah."

"That's fine. I can take care of things here and I'll bring your stuff to the spa." She said.

"Thanks." I said and went up to the penthouse.

I knocked on the door and see the usual group in the penthouse. Including the new additions from Dubai, Hishikura and Hikaru. They seemed to be fitting right in.

"Don't just stand there. Make me some coffee." Hikaru barked. "That's the only thing you're good at, right?"

"Excuse me? You're missing word there. It's the word, please." I hissed back. It was weird having Hikaru up here, especially since he was nothing like the person I worked with. When I worked with him in Dubai, he was nice, sweet and I really enjoyed working with him. But now that he was an auction manager, I saw him for who he really was. A jerk. A big jerk.

"You tell him Freya." Baba laughed as I told Hikaru off.

I refused to make coffee till he said please, but even than it was a very reluctant please.

"So what should we do? How does that day sound?" Soryu said.

"Fine with me." Ota said.

"What do you think, Mamo?" Baba asked.

"Since there's security guards in the area, police patrols are gonna be light. Sounds good to me."

I guessed that they were planning the next auction, thought I didn't see why Hikaru had to be involved. Why was he even here in the first place? Eisuke should just fire him. I went to the kitchen and got the coffee ready.

"Hmm. I'm really bored lately. I need something new and interesting." Ota said.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm stuck in a rut, too." Baba said.

"We'd get more guests if something happened to boost our publicity." Eisuke said.

"We don't want anything too scandalous, though." Soryu said.

"Eh, I'm sure Eisuke'd be able to take care of just about anything that came up." Kishi said.

I idly listened to their conversation as I waited for the coffee to be done, when I felt someone stand next to me.

"Sexy bones, you look so beautiful today." Luke said, making me gasp and jump in fright.

"Luke, oh my god. Don't do that." I said and took a moment to steady my racing heart. I almost jumped out of my skin. He always did that, he had this annoying ability to be able to sneak up on me without me hearing him move. It was so annoying.

The others must have seen us as they started to laugh.

"How about we put Freya up for auction again?" Ota suggested. "We can say she's a maid who can clean even the dirtiest guests to satisfaction and give you any beauty treatment."

"Oh very funny Ota." I said and brought the coffee out.

"Imaginations of perverts never cease to amaze me." Hishikura said.

"If Sexy Bones' collar bones were for sale, I'd buy them." Luke said.

"Well, you'd win 'cuz you'd be the only damn bidder." Kishi said.

"Why don't we have a competition at the auction?" Hikaru suggested. "And the prize could be Freya."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, they were teasing me just like usual, so I decided to ignore them. "Ok, your coffee is here. Anything else?"

"What do you think, Boss?" Baba said, ignoring me.

"I'd be curious to see how much someone would pay for her."

Not Eisuke to. I left the room quickly, not wanting to put up with their teasing any longer.

One night, before the I.V.V and the auctions, we were all sat in the penthouse lounge and I made everyone coffee.

"Thanks Freya." Baba said.

"Just put it down on the table." Ota said.

"Yep, I was right. Your coffee is the best thing about you." Hikaru said.

"Oh geeze, thanks." I said sarcastically and sat down on a sofa.

Just then, Soryu rushed into the room. "Eisuke, I'm sorry."

"What is it?" Eisuke asked.

"I can't come to the next auction."

"Why?" Baba asked.

"Let's just say a tiny mistake has turned into a huge problem. And I have to go take care of it before I gets out of control."

"A tiny mistake?" Ota questioned. "Wait, don't tell me…"

"Yes, it was Inui."

No one seemed surprised. Inui was one of Soryu's men, not the most efficient but he was a nice guy.

"Do you think you can settle it on your own?" Hishikura asked.

"Yes, that's no problem. I just won't be able to make the auction." Soryu said. "I can still send my men to be guards though."

"It'll be rough with you here." Hishikura said.

"How are we going to make up for Soryu being gone?" Ota said.

"Should Kishi leak some false information to divert the police's attention?" Hikaru suggested. "And I can help the bodyguards."

"But who would fill in for you, Aihara?" Eisuke asked.

"Yeah, its not realistic." Baba said.

"Uhh, I wasn't going to say anything but, my folks asked me to come home that day."

After everyone started having a go at Kishi, Baba interrupted.

"Yep. Honestly, there's a treasure I wanted to steal and the best chance for me to get it is the day of the auction." He said.

So now Baba and Kishi won't be there either? Without the three of them, it would be awfully hard to pull it off.

"Maybe we should reschedule." Ota said.

"Yeah, that's all we can do." Kishi said.

"I don't care either way." Hikaru said.

Hishikura agreed with him.

But what about the invitations? They had already been sent out to the patrons, I waited in suspense when Eisuke stood up.

"Looks like none of you care very much about the auctions, then."

"Eisuke, I'm sure it's not like that." I said.

"What else can we do? Everyone has plans." Ota said.

"It's not like we can't reschedule it." Baba said.

Eisuke didn't sound impressed "If I would had known I was teaming up with slackers, I never would have done it. Today marks the end of our partnership."

"What? You're not serious." I said.

The atmosphere in the room turned to ice.

"Then there's no reason for me to be here anymore." Hikaru said.

"So we're done? Damn, never though this day would come. It's a miracle." Kishi said.

"Apparently, I came all the way from Dubai for nothing." Hishikura said.

Everyone left the room, I just sat there bewildered. How could this happen? They all got on so well and made such a good team. Well maybe not Hikaru but everyone else.

"No, I can't let this happen. I don't want everyone to leave over something so stupid." I said to myself and stood up with determination. I needed to talk to Eisuke and change his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

The auction managers had decided to split up, and they all left the room one by one.

"You guys." I said. The only ones left in the penthouse were Eisuke, Soryu and Luke and myself. I waited for Eisuke to say something, but the one to break the silence was Soryu.

"This is my responsibility. I'll take care of cancelling the auctions." He said. He sounded guilty as he started naming off the people he should contact to call off the auction.

"Can you do it in time?" Luke asked.

"I can take care of it by the end of the day. Is that fine with you, Eisuke?"

"Heh." Soryu seeked Eisuke's approval, but he only chuckled in response. "There's no reason to call off the auctions."

"What?"

"You mean you're going to continue in this situation?" Soryu asked.

"We've already sent out invitations. All the preparations have been made. Why should we call it off?"

"That's true." Soryu said.

"Do you have enough items to sell at the auction?" Luke asked.

"We already have plenty of items in reserve. The other auction managers quitting doesn't mean we have to call off the auctions right away."

"All right. Then we'll proceed with the next auction as planned." Soryu said.

Eisuke just mumbled in reply.

So the only auctions managers left were Eisuke, Soryu and Luke. Were things really going to be ok? I couldn't help but feel anxious and I didn't want everyone to leave.

"What's with the look on your face Freya?" Eisuke said.

"It's nothing." I said, it was none of my business.

"Please. I know you. I'm sure you're thinking that we should call the auctions off."

"Well yes, we should call the auctions off." I said.

"If we cancel them now, we'll lose the patrons' trust." He said.

I guess that made sense, I could see why he wouldn't want to cancel but it just didn't feel right doing it without the others.

"Get back to work." He said.

"Ok." I said and left the room.

I just couldn't believe the guys had gone. They were all kind of weird but that's why they all got along so well. Eisuke didn't seem like he had any problems accepting it, but it wasn't that easy for me. Wasn't there something I could do? I entered the lobby and started heading towards the spa, when I heard Baba's voice.

"Oh, Mamo." He said.

"Hey, Baba." Kishi said.

"I wonder if we'll be on the same flight together?" Baba asked.

"Nope not."

They were walking through the lobby, carrying large packages.

"Baba, Kishi." I said and walked over to them.

"Freya, perfect timing. Can you send this to Japan?" Baba approached me.

"Mine, too." Kishi said.

"Wait, you guys are going back to Japan?" I asked as they handed me two big packages.

"We're not auction managers anymore. I thought we'd be together till the end but guess that's not how it worked out." Baba said.

"There ain't no reason I gotta stay and place nice to 'em anymore." Kishi said.

"But…. You guys were friends." I said. I was shocked at their unfeeling responses, and I sputtered hopelessly. I thought they valued their friendship more, were they really that shallow?

"So, will you mail it?" Baba said.

"Mine, too." Kishi said.

"Of course I will." I said.

They both then walked out of the hotel, as if nothing ever happened.

That night, I finished work and went up to the penthouse to fine Eisuke working on the list of auction items by himself.

"I'm home." I said as I closed the front door. I folded up my cane and put it in my purse and removed my sun glasses.

"Mm." Eisuke said, clearly distracted. Normally he'd be having a meeting with the others right now. I wondered if he knew that Baba and Kishi had left?

"Baba and Kishi are going to Japan and gave me their things to send home." I said.

"I see."

"Are you sure it's ok with everyone just leaving like this, Eisuke?"

"Stopping bugging me." He said coldly.

"But-"

"Is there a reason we need them around?"

"Well-" now that he was asking me, I couldn't really think of any practical reason but they were out friends. "It just makes me anxious."

"Even though I'm here?" he said not sounding happy.

Had I offended him? "Well… no. I'm sure everything will be fine as long as you're here." Well at least I hoped it would, but the knot of unease in the put of my stomach just wouldn't go away. "So hypothetically speaking…"

"What?"

"What if the situation changing makes the security lax and it puts you in danger?" I asked. I thought he would lecture me again, but he just laughed it off.

"Have I ever failed at anything before?"

"Well… no."

"That's the answer." He said. I liked that he was confident, and his judgements were always right. He didn't have a hint of uncertainty in his voice. I guess I just had to trust him.

"You're right, I trust you know what you're doing." I said with a slight smile.

"Looks like I've trained you well." He said seeming satisfied with my answer. He then pulled me towards him onto the sofa. "You can be pretty insecure somethings, huh? You hate change."

"I don't adapt well to change. I like to know when things are going to happen, and I don't have nerves of steel like you."

"Just do as I say, and you'll be fine. I'll give you the life you want." He sat me on his lap and hugged me from behind. He then gave me a teasing kiss on my cheek, making my mind go completely blank.

"What about the auctions?"

"Don't worry about it." He said and turned me round and kissed me on the lips. He then started to unbutton my blouse. He must be in a good mood if he's stopping his work to do this. Maybe he's in such a good mood because he knows that I trust him? I shivered as he revealed more of my skin.

"I'll make you forget how cold you are."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and gasped every time he bit my skin, leaving a sting sensation behind. True to his work, he gives me all the pleasure I wanted. My small doubt was washed away by waves of passion.

"I can always see what you're thinking by the look on your face." He said.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked but he didn't answer me, he just started to kiss my collar bone. I gasped and dug my nails into his back, he always knew which spots to hit.

"You're giving into your desire now, hm?"

"Only because of you."

He gave a throaty chuckle and started skimming his hands over my skin. I then began to remove his clothes as well, starting with his jacket and his shirt. He knew every inch of my body and exactly how each part liked to be touched.

"Why don't you just be honest and tell me you want me?"

Should I give him the satisfaction of giving into him? I was tempted not to. He then stopped moving.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"You know what I want. I want you." I said.

"Passable."

"Mmm." I moaned as he kissed me whilst pushing me down onto the sofa.

A few days later, the auction was proceeding as planned. It felt rather lonely without the guys and quiet. I never would of thought that I'd missing their goofing around and constant teasing. Right now, only Luke and Eisuke was here.

"Where's Soryu?" I asked.

"He's late." Eisuke said.

There was the same excitement in the air as usual, with all kinds of rare items for sale. The auction it's self was the same, even with the guys gone it seemed to run fine. I started to feel relieved until Soryu walked in.

"You're late." Eisuke said not impressed.

"I came here as fast as I could." Soryu hissed back.

"Whatever. The showcase item is coming up." Eisuke said.

I wondered what it would be this time? A rare jewel or something weird? Finally, the last item appeared on stage.

"And for the last item of the evening, we have a –" the mad hatter then let out a gasp.

"Eisuke, what is it?" Soryu asked.

"You'll see." Eisuke said.

"I wish he'd just hurry it up." Luke said.

The audience buzzed when they heard the mad hatter gasp. His voice trembled as he spoke "The next item up for bids is… this auction?!"

Me and Soryu both gasped at the same time. Eisuke seemed to laugh at our reactions.

"You're selling the auctions?" I asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

"You're selling the auctions?" I asked.

Soryu was still speechless.

"Well, that's something." Luke said.

"Eisuke, are you behind this?" Soryu asked.

"I don't need the auctions now that everyone has left. So I'm selling it. That's it." Eisuke said.

"But…" Soryu began but he then trailed off, he definitely had no idea that this was going to happen.

"Normally no bidder would be able to afford it, but I've invited guests tonight who have the finances necessary. There are many people who are interested in the auction itself. So I thought why not sell it?"

Eisuke's argument seemed convincing but Soryu didn't seem to buy it.

"I know you always do what you want. But to put up the auctions, I just can't agree with it." Soryu said, then he stood up and started to walk away.

"Soryu, please wait." I said and went to stand up to go after him, when Eisuke pulled me back by my arm.

"Don't interfere." He warned, he pulled me back down to my chair "Leave him be."

I heard Soryu leave and his footsteps disappeared.

"But-" I couldn't let Soryu leave as well.

"Someone's going to buy it." Luke said, he didn't seem to be affected at all.

"Yes. Pretty good price too." Eisuke said.

So now only Luke was left and wasn't that interested in the decisions Eisuke makes. So Eisuke was basically alone.

"Are there any other bidders?" the mad hatter said. "Well then, the black market auctions are sold to bidder #12. For an astonishing price of…."

The auction was sold for a price that I was saw could buy a small country. After the auction, we returned to the penthouse lounge and found that Eisuke had a guest. It was the winning bidder of the auctions, they were going to sign the contracts. He was a British gentlemen, who sounded quite posh.

"Please come in." I said.

"Thank you." He said and sat down on the sofas. I offered him tea, which he readily accepted and thanked me.

He seemed like a nice guy. He had a gentle disposition that made it seem a little unbelievable that he'd participate in the auctions, much less own them.

"That name's Ichinomiya. I'm the seller, thank you for bidding on the auctions." Eisuke said with his fake, charm voice.

"My pleasure. I'm eager to take it off of your hands. I just can't believe this amazing opportunity." The man said.

"Here's the contract of purchase. Please look it over."

"Thank you."

I stood behind Eisuke, as the man looked through the contract. I heard the sound of paper rustling. Once he signed it, the auctions would no longer belong to Eisuke. I started to feel emotional just thinking about it, but what a change of tune. At first, I was horrified by the auctions. But now, it became an irreplaceable part of my memories with Eisuke. Though the memory of being sold at the auctions still made me shiver.

"It looks fine. Let's go ahead with it." The man said.

"Please sign here then." Eisuke said.

They signed the contracts and Eisuke seemed happy.

"That should do it. I hope the auctions prove beneficial for you." He said.

"Yes, thank you." The man said and he left the room.

The next day at work, I run into Hikaru in the linen room.

"So, what's going on?" he asked.

"It's been pretty crazy." I said but I wasn't sure how to elaborate. Hikaru just stood there, like he was waiting for something. "What is it?"

"I saw a man I'd never seen before, coming from the penthouse lounge last night." He said.

"Last night? Oh yeah." I said. He must mean the man that bought the auctions. "Was a British gentleman?"

"Gentleman… I guess he kind of looked pretty proper. You know him?"

"Yes. He came to the penthouse lounge to sign a contract with Eisuke. Actually, at last night's auction…" I then told him how Eisuke sold the auction.

"He sold the auctions?" he said sounding surprised.

"He said since everyone left, there was no reason to hold onto it anymore."

"That sounds like him." He said and his tone changed to his normal bored, uninterested one.

"Do you really think it's ok to leave things how they are?" I said.

"I guess? Anyway, it's got nothing to do with me now." He said.

"So then why do you care about the guy who was up in the penthouse?"

"I'd never seen him before, so obviously I was curious. I was just making small talk." He said.

"Oh?" I said but I wasn't convinced.

We kept talking, he told me about his work, clearly not that interested in the auction. Hikaru seemed to be handling it well but my thoughts were with Baba, Kishi, Ota and Soryu. They were original members and they were all friends. Thinking of them made me sad, I wondered if I would ever seem them again?

That afternoon, I was at the penthouse helping Ota and Hishikura with packing and cleaning. I wanted to say goodbye before they went and so naturally, the conversation turned to the auction managers splitting up.

"Oh, Baba and Kishi went back to Japan? I thought I hadn't seen them in a while." Ota said.

"You didn't know?"

"They both disappear a lot." He said.

"Is it true that Ichinomiya sold the auctions?" Hishikura asked.

"Yes, a British man brought it yesterday. They've already signed the contract." I said.

"I can't believe it." Ota said with emotion.

"Does it make you sad?" I asked.

"Not sad… it's just going to be so boring from now on." He said. "I almost never get bored when I'm with Eisuke." He said with irritation, clearly not amused by the situation.

"Don't either of you regret quitting as auction managers?" I asked.

"Well, what done is done." Ota said.

"Ichinomiya's made his decision, about us splitting up and the selling the auction." Hishikura said.

Everyone was just so casual about this, maybe I was the only one overreacting?

"Anyway, I ran into Soryu yesterday and he was super pissed. I don't think it was a great idea for Eisuke to make him angry. Although, he's about the only one who can make him mad." Ota said. He sounded almost scared for a moment.

"Well, Soryu was mad because Eisuke didn't consult him first before selling the auctions." I said.

"He didn't tell Soryu? No wonder he's pissed!"

"I heard they've known each other for a long time." Hishikura said.

"They've known each other the longest out of any of us." Ota said. "Normally when they argue, Soryu's always the one to smooth things over. There aren't any other auction managers around this time, though. So he might've really screwed up their relationship."

"Yeah, maybe." I said.

"And once you've known each other that long, a big fight is hard to repair." Hishikura said.

I doubt that Eisuke would apologise to Soryu, he never apologised for anything.

"Isn't there any way for them to make up?" I asked.

"Don't ask me." Ota said.

"Sounds difficult." Hishikura said.

"Thanks, you guys are of little help." I said.

That night after work, I went back to the penthouse and I heard Eisuke's voice.

"The contract is exactly how it was written." I guessed that he was on the phone, he sounded slightly irritated.

It sounded important and I didn't want to interrupt him, so I went to the bathroom to have a shower, without saying a word to him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

It was well after midnight, but it seemed like Eisuke wasn't coming to bed. I assumed it was because of work, he must be so busy. I left the bedroom and came to the living room.

"Are you still working, Eisuke?"

"Yes."

"Want me to make you some coffee?" I asked.

"No, it's fine. You go ahead and go to sleep." He said.

"But what about you?"

"This will still take a while." He said.

"All right. Don't too hard, ok?" I said.

He didn't reply, I heard his fingertips type on his laptop. I decided to do as he said and went back to our bedroom. I was tired, yet I couldn't sleep. I tossed, and I turned, but all I could feel were the cold sheets underneath me. I felt lonely without Eisuke next to me. I sat up, I decided that since I couldn't sleep I might as well make Eisuke some coffee and maybe drink some hot milk myself. I got out of bed, put my dressing gown and headed back to the living room. As I opened the door, Eisuke walked in pushing me backwards.

"Are you done working?" I asked.

"Get ready to leave."

"What? Right now?"

"Pack everything you'll need for a while in here. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

"Why?" I said.

He pulled me over to the bed and moved my hands till I touched a large suitcase. "Where are we going?"

"I'll explain later. Stop wasting time and hurry up." He said.

"Ok."

I packed some clothes and everyday necessities. I didn't know how long it meant by 'a while' so I just packed about two weeks' worth of stuff. Including my violin and some books. I pushed down on my suitcase and zipped it close.

True to his word, we left the penthouse twenty minutes later.

"Alright, this should be fine." He said as we got into a limo. He seemed very twitchy, it was making me nervous. We were in such a hurry, I didn't even have time to change out of my pyjamas.

"Eisuke…"

"What?" he said, I could hear rapid typing on his laptop.

I sighed and sat back into the seats "Never mind." It's happening again, just like in Dubai. Something was obviously happening and once again, he kept me in the dark. I thought that once we were engaged, he would treat me more like a partner. But clearly, I was wrong. I would like to think he was keeping secretes to protect me but, I couldn't help but feel he was doing this because he thought I couldn't handle what happening. I wasn't a delicate flower, I could handle anything, yet he never gives me the chance to prove myself. I bet he was doing this because I was blind.

The limo took us to an airport and we immediately got onto Eisuke's private jet.

"This should be far enough…" he muttered and then he sighed with relief as the jet took off.

"Where are we going? What's going on?" I asked.

"Japan."

"Why? And why did we have to leave in the middle of the night?"

"Come here." He said, and he pulled me towards him and hugged me. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed again. His hair touched my cheek and I reached out and gently combed his hair with my fingers. I felt him twitch so I stopped.

"Keep going." He said.

"Ok." I said. His hair felt so silky and soft. Why was he acting like this? It was so strange. His breathing started to get quieter and I could tell that he was asleep. Things must be bad if he was acting like this.

I couldn't remember the last time he was this peaceful. He had been working non-stop since the auction members broke up, even I could tell when he was exhausted.

"You look sleepy too." He said.

"What?"

"You're very warm." He said.

"I am?" I asked, and he snuggled even deeper against me.

"Are you cold? I can get you a blanket." I said.

"I don't need one when I have you." He said.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and I placed my hands on his hands. Our warmth is so comforting, and I could hear his heartbeat slow down to a steady rhythm. I wanted to grill him for more information, but I didn't have the heart to disturb him.

It's daytime when we arrive in Japan, we headed straight to the Tres Spades Tokyo once we got to the airport. It's been so long since I've been to this hotel. The layout was similar to the Tres Spades London, but there was something nostalgic about this one.

"I've been waiting for you, Mr Ichinomiya." Mr Kenzaki said, greeting us as we came up to the penthouse.

"Thank you." Eisuke said.

"Mr Kenzaki, it's nice to see you again." I said.

How did Eisuke find the time to tell him that we were coming? And if he found the time to let him known that we were coming, how come he didn't let me know until last minute?

"All the preparations have been made, sir." Kenzaki said. "Freya, you can use your old locker here."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Starting tomorrow, you've been transferred back here for work." Eisuke said.

"What?"

"Any complaints?" he asked.

"Well no but, why?"

If I'm working here again, that must mean that we're staying much longer than I expected.

"Your duties are the same. Here's your schedule for the week." Kenzaki said and handed me a piece of paper with brail on.

"Ok, thank you." I said. So Eisuke had time to make me a schedule as well?

"Well then, please let me know if you need anything." Kenzaki said.

"I will, thank you." Eisuke said.

Kenzaki then left the penthouse, I waited for a few moments to make sure that he was gone.

"What's going on Eisuke?" I asked.

He was silent for a moment "You don't need to worry about it."

"No, I want to know what's going on." I said.

"Just do as I say and be quiet." He said firmly.

"But-"

"I'm going to work. You do whatever you want." He said and left the room before I could say anything else.

I sat down on the sofa with a heavy sigh. I trusted Eisuke, he always did the right thing but why couldn't he include me? I always felt so excluded.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

A few days later, I seemed to fall back into a familiar rhythm at work. It's like I never left, things were just how they used to be. I've hardly seen Eisuke, he's been so busy but at least he wasn't as busy as he was in London. I had just finished work and I was sat in the restaurant, talking to Becca on the phone. It was late morning in London.

"I can't believe you left so suddenly. When are you coming back?" she asked.

"I don't know. Something's going on, but he won't tell me anything." I said.

"Have you asked him?"

"Yes, he's refusing to tell me anything." I said. Last time he did this was when we were in Dubai, and he thought my life was in danger. Was my life in danger again? I tried to think back, the only thing that's changed was the selling of the auctions. Did something happen with them and that's why we had to come back here?

"Well, if he won't tell you anything then you need to find out on your own." Becca said.

"How? I'm visually challenged, there's only so much I can do."

"Then get someone to help you – I know, I could come to Japan for a holiday and we can find out together."

"No. Now is not a good time. Look, I'll keep you updated about everything ok? Just tell Sophie and Lucy that I'm sorry and hopefully I'll be back soon."

"Ok, let me know. Bye." She said and hung up.

It was the first Saturday since me and Eisuke returned to Japan. I had a day off today, Eisuke was working so maybe I could go see my parents and my sister Lucy. I had rung them the other day, to let them know that I was back in Japan and they wanted me to visit.

I knocked on Eisuke's office door to let him know that I was leaving.

"I'm sorry to interrupt."

"What is it?" he said.

"I'm going to see my parents today and I'll be back later today." I said.

"Today?" he questions.

"Is there a problem?"

"I don't want you leaving by yourself. Wait until I can come with you." He said.

"What? Why? I'm just going to parent's house."

"I know that."

"You want to come and see my parents? Is this a joke?" I asked.

"Why would I do such a thing?"

"No, it's just- I'm glad it's not a joke." I said. He'd never really seemed interested in meeting my family before, especially with what happened with my dad in London.

"Ok, fine. I'll call them and let them know we'll come another day."

"Good, spend the day here at the hotel." He said.

"Fine." I said and left the office. He was going to meet my parents, I was kind of excited. They didn't know much about him so I'm sure they'd be happy to see him.

I called my parents and told them of my change in plans and then I went down to the hotel lobby. I wondered why Eisuke didn't want me to leave the hotel though? He was definitely hiding something, and it bugged me. But I couldn't be bothered to fight him today, so I decided to just stay in the hotel. What should I do? I could go to the gym, go to the spa, go shopping. There was so much I could do, that was one of the good things about the Tres Spades.

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while." A cheerful voice said.

"Sakiko." I beamed and stood up. I turned, and she gave me a hug, I could feel her uniform as I hugged her back.

"When did you get back?" she asked.

"Only a few days ago. I'm working here again."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Things have been busy." I said and I explained the situation.

"Oh wow. Hey, didn't a similar thing happen not long ago?" she said.

"Yes."

"And he won't say anything?"

"Nope."

Sakiko was on her break so she didn't have long. We had a cup of tea together before she had to return to work. With nothing else to do, I went back up to the penthouse and decided to go play my violin. I passed Eisuke's office and heard him talking to Mr Kenzaki. I knew I shouldn't eavesdrop but I couldn't help myself.

"All the paperwork is done. I guarantee that the other party can be trusted." Kenzaki said.

"All right. Go ahead with the rest then. And how's the other matter?" Eisuke asked.

"I told them to put a rush on it. It'll be more expensive than we thought, of course."

"Not a problem. I just want it to be done quickly."

They continued talking but it didn't shed any light on the situation. I went to my bedroom and played my violin for a while but I soon got bored again, so I decided to join Sakiko at the casino. She was working as a dealer. I was sat at her table with a cocktail next to me.

"I win with a flush." She said.

"What? Again? Are you cheating?"

"No, you're just not concentrating. A total beginner could win against you." She said.

I sighed, I had already lost a lot of money but thankfully Eisuke had a tab and I could put it on his tab.

"Want to go again?"

"Dunno." I said and took a sip of my cocktail.

"Come on, don't give up yet. Keep trying." She said.

"Having trouble?" a man said and sat down next to me. "Looks like you're losing pretty badly. I've got a knack for poker. I could help you."

"Yeah ok." I agreed and Sakiko dealt a new hand. Thankfully, the cards were brail so I could tell what they were.

"Exchange these two cards." The man said and took the cards from my hand.

"Ok."

Whoa, I got a full house.

"Straight." Sakiko said.

"Full house." I said and laid my cards out.

"Wow, really? Nice one." She said.

"Yes, I finally won. Thank you." I said to the man.

"Just glad to help. Let's keep your winning streak going." He said.

Thanks to the mystery man's help, I made back some of the money I lost. I actually had fun at the casino, by the time I got back to the penthouse Kenzaki was gone and found Eisuke still in his office.

"Are you done with work?" I asked.

"For today." He said.

"Good. I went to the casino and lost a little bit of money, but I didn't do too badly." I said.

"That's what I expected." He said with a chuckle. He didn't seem fake, I think this was the first time since the auction managers split up that he seemed genuinely happy.

"Yeah, it was fun. Now that we're back in Japan, we could go see Baba or Kishi-"

"How long do you insist on talking about them?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"Well, it's just sad that everyone left-"

"You need to get over it." He said. He pulled me over to his desk and pushed me down on it. "I'll just have to make you forget them."

He put his hand down next to my face and stroked my cheek, before he grabbed both of my hands. I felt him wrap something round my wrists, tying them together.

"Eisuke, what are you doing?" I asked.

He didn't answer, he just kissed me roughly. I could tell that he was angry.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Eisuke made love to me on his desk, he was rough and hard. I was sure that he had left bruises all over my body. When we finished, he silently untied my wrists. They felt sore from being bound so tightly. He ran his fingers along the marks the rope had left, he then lifted my wrists up and planted a kiss over the marks.

"Oh." I gasped as he pulled me to his chest, I felt him run his fingers through my hair as if to comfort me. I felt so confused, why was he acting so strange? It was as if he was in pain.

"Eisuke, are you ok?" I asked.

He didn't answer, he just planted a soft, tender kiss on my lips.

"Freya…" he whispered but our kisses washed his words away. Even though we weren't talking, I could tell what he was feeling. He was feeling sad, he didn't want the auction managers to break up and he missed them. Things couldn't continue like this.

After I took a shower, Eisuke started work again and I made him some coffee. We weren't fighting but after what happened in his office, things were awkward between us. I turned the tv on as I brew the coffee.

"And now our next story. There's been another threat from the internationally-known mast thief…" the next reporter said.

I stopped what I was doing so I could focus on the tv. They must mean Baba, so he was still in Japan?

"The National Art Museum in Taito Ward received the threat recently, the police are on high alert. We turn now to a reporter live on the scene in front of he museum." The reporter continued. There were several police waiting around the museum, Baba's going to be there tonight. Maybe I could go there and meet him? I ran my fingers along my wrists, thinking of what Eisuke did. He's miserable and he was too stubborn to do anything, so it was up to me.

I checked my watch, there was still time before Baba got to the museum. I sneaked out of the penthouse and went to the museum, using my phone's GPS to guide me. I walked along an alley way near the museum, this was definitely the path that he would take to avoid getting captured. I waited for him in the shadow of a large building. There was a bar right next to the museum, it was called Da Vinci, which was also what he was going to steal from the museum. I'm sure he'd go to that bar after to celebrate. There was a lot of people here since it was a shopping area, he wouldn't attract too much attention.

As I waited, I then heard some very familiar light footsteps walking towards me and a playful whistle.

"Baba." I called out.

"Huh?"

I jumped out in front of him, making him bounce back in surprise.

"No way. Freya? Is it really you?"

"In the flesh." I said and gave him a quick hug.

"I thought you were in England."

"It's kind of complicated but I really need to talk to you." I said.

"All right, I can't say no to that. Let's go somewhere else." He said. He took me to a seaside park near the Tres Spades. "How did you know where I was going? Not even the police could figure it out."

"Well, I was walking around the area with my GPS and I found the Da Vinci bar and I saw the news about the piece you were going to steal. So I figured this is where you'd be. Plus, the alley way and the number of people around, made it the perfect escape."

"I see. You've got my M.O down pat, Freya. We've known each other a long time, huh?"

"Yeah, that's why I need to ask you a favour."

"What?"

He was so eager to help me. I was nice talking to him again. "Please go back to Eisuke."

"Hm? Is Eisuke back in Japan, too?"

"Yes. Did you know that he sold the auctions?"

"I heard rumours. So it's true?"

I nodded. At the same time, hearing Baba call him 'Eisuke' rather then 'Boss', just felt weird.

"Soryu left too. And then something weird happened. Eisuke woke me up at midnight and we flew back to Japan, with no explanation."

"So something's going on with him then."

"Yes, and he won't let me help or even tell me what's going on. He needs his friends around him to help. He keeps saying everything's fine, but… please help him."

"Hmmm." Baba said but he didn't sound convinced. "Did he say he wants my help?"

"Well, not exactly but.."

"Then I don't think I can."

"What? Why?"

"I shouldn't do anything unless he asks me to." He said.

"Oh come on. You know Eisuke would never ask for help himself. Hence why I'm doing it for him."

"I know. Let me think about it, ok?"

"Ok, thank you." I said.

"It's late. You should get back to the hotel. I bet you didn't tell Eisuke you were meeting me, huh?"

"No."

"I bet he'll get mad at me." He said jokingly.

"Come back to the hotel with me."

"I have the piece of art with me right now, so I can't." he said.

"Oh. Ok." That was just an excuse, I could tell he didn't really want to come back with me. Maybe the guys won't ever get back together. Baba then made a phone call and suddenly, Eisuke was running towards us.

"Eisuke?"

He was panting, so he must have ran all the way here. He seemed quite panicked.

"Don't be too angry with her." Baba said.

"That's my decision." Eisuke hissed and I could feel his harsh glare on me.

Baba didn't say anything else and walked off.

"Baba, wait- whoa. Eisuke, stop." I said. He picked me up over his shoulder and started to carry me off. He didn't say a word until we got back to the penthouse. As soon as we got back, he tossed me down onto our bed.

"I thought I told you to stay at the hotel today?" he said angrily. The tension in the room was thick, I could tell he was angry.

"And I did stay at the hotel. And besides, what's wrong with me going outside?"

"You promised me that you wouldn't leave." He hissed and he started to take my clothes off.

"No." I said and pushed his hands way, I didn't want to make love out of anger again. It would be just like the office.

"You're going to disobey me?" he said in a low voice.

"Just tell me what's going on. Why can't I leave the hotel? Why did we come here so suddenly? I know something is going on and since you won't tell me anything, I had to go and do something. I'm worried about you."

He must not have expected me to argue because he momentarily speechless. "Just do as I say." He ordered.

"No. Tell me what is going on or I'm going to leave." I said.

We both stared up at each other, neither willing to back down.

"I'll send a car to take you to your parents." He said.

"Fine, whatever." I said and got up off the bed and started to pack my things. We both needed time to cool off.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Shortly before midnight, mum and dad were very surprised to see me come home so late.

"What's wrong? It's the middle of the night." Mum said as she opened the door.

"Without even so much as a phone call. I thought you were going to bring your fiancé?" dad said.

"Yeah well, things change." I said and put my suitcase on the floor, in the doorway. "We had a fight. We both need to clear our heads, so I decided to come home."

Mum took me into the kitchen and I heard her put the kettle on. "These things happen." She said and gave me a cup of tea.

"What was the fight about?" dad asked.

"It doesn't matter." I said with a sigh.

"You look tired. You should go to bed, your room is ready for you." Dad said.

"Thanks. I'm sorry to come by so late."

"What are you talking about? This is your home too. You can come home anytime you like." Mum said.

"How long you in Japan for? Are you going back to London?" Dad asked.

"I don't know." I said. That's when I realised. I had no idea what was happening in my life. I was constantly moved from one place to another, never knowing what was going to happen. I trusted Eisuke, but he never tells me anything, all he tells me is to just do as he says. I trust him, but he clearly doesn't trust me enough to talk to me about things. We were engaged, this was supposed to be a partnership. He's had plenty of time to tell me what's happening, all I've done since we got back here is do as he says.

"Freya, are you ok?" mum asked.

I wiped a few tears away from my eyes "I'm fine. I'm going to go to bed." I said and went upstairs. For the first time in years, I went to sleep in my own bed.

The next morning, I woke up to my cell phone ringing. Who could be ringing me this time of morning? It was still early. I sleepily reached over and answered it.

"Hello?

"Whoa, you sound really sleepy."

I shot up in bed "Ota? Is that you?"

"Can you tell me why I'm being followed too?" he said.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's really annoying. Tell Eisuke to take care of it."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said.

"He hasn't told you anything about it?"

"No, he hasn't told me anything."

"Why am I not surprised? Well, just tell him and he'll understand." He said.

"Tell him yourself besides, I'm not with him at the moment." I said.

"Why? And if it was that easy, I wouldn't be calling you right now. Don't forget." He said with annoyance and hung up.

"Hey, wait."

I sighed and put my phone back down. Great, now I was wide awake. I wanted a lie in. I wondered what Eisuke was doing right now? And Why was he having Ota followed? Was someone targeting Eisuke? That would explain everything that's happened. And if both Eisuke and Ota were being followed, did that mean I was being followed too?

I was fed up of just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. I needed to help Eisuke one way or another. I got up and got dressed. When I went downstairs, mum had already made breakfast.

"Hey Freya." Lucy said beaming.

"Lucy? Lucy!" I squealed and ran towards the kitchen table, running into a chair and falling over.

"Freya, what are you doing?" she said and helped me to stand. I jumped to my feet and hugged her. Lucy was my sister.

"How are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine, doing better then you, Obviously. Mum and dad told me you were back in Japan. Why didn't you ring me?"

"Sorry, things have been crazy busy." I said.

We sat down and ate breakfast before going upstairs to my room.

"So, tell me everything." She said.

I explained the whole situation to her.

"Wow. So something bad?"

I could always tell Lucy anything and I needed to get my doubts off my chest. "I think someone is targeting either me or Eisuke."

"Why? Did Dad screw up again?"

"No. It has nothing to do with Dad. Eisuke sometimes gets involved in dodgy things and I think something's happened in England, and that's why he's dragged me back here."

"What kind of dodgy things?"

"I don't know. He never tells me anything." I said.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Isn't obvious? I'm going to find out what's happening and do something about it." I said.

"How?" she asked.

I smiled at her "Well, since you're here, you could help me. We were always good at sneaking into Dad's office. We could do the same to Eisuke's." I said.

"Freya, if someone is targeting you guys, tell dad. He can get some of his soldiers to protect you. And do you really think you should be sneaking around your fiancés office."

"How else am I supposed to find out what's going on? He never lets me do anything, he just treats me like a helpless animal. I bet if I wasn't blind, he wouldn't treat me like this."

"Oh stop. I'm sure that's not it."

"Are you going to help me nor not?" I asked.

"Fine, I'll help you. When do you want to do this?"

"Now. Let's go back to the hotel." I said.

We stood up and headed downstairs, we said goodbye to mum and dad.

"You're leaving now?" mum asked.

"Where are you going?" Dad said.

"Back to the hotel." I said.

I opened the front door and walked right into someone. "Oh sorry, excuse me." I said and tried to move past them but they didn't move.

"Freya, it's me."

"Eisuke?! Wh-what are you doing here?"

Eisuke then seemed to notice my family "Please excuse me for coming so early in the morning. I'd been meaning to come at the time we agreed upon before but… I'm Eisuke Ichinomiya, Freya's fiancé."

"We've met before. It's a pleasure to meet you." Dad said.

"Yes, it's nice to see you again." Eisuke said.

"I heard you two fought. Did our daughter do something to upset you?" Mum said.

"Mum?!"

"She can be very stubborn and jump to conclusions easily."

"Mum, knock it off." I hissed.

I heard Eisuke chuckle "No, it's my fault for making her feel anxious."

Did he really think that? He would normally never put himself in a lower position then me, so did he feel bad and that's why he came to get me?

"She was just about to go back to the hotel." Dad said.

"I see. I had good timing then. I am sorry for intruding so early in the morning but something urgent has come up. But I'd love to come back and spend more time getting to know you." Eisuke said.

"Of course. We're so happy that Freya's found such a fine man. It beat her last boyfriend." Mum said.

"Mum!"

"Just look after her." dad said.

"I promise you that she's safe with me." Eisuke said.

Lucy decided to stay at the house, we said our goodbye and me and Eisuke left together. We walked outside, and I looked around in shock. I saw many figures stood around the house.

"Um… Eisuke. Are there people standing around my parent's house?" I asked.

"You all are relieved. Good work." Eisuke said.

"Thank you, sir." One of men said before they all walked away.

"Eisuke, who were they?" I asked.

"Bodyguards."

"Bodyguards? But why?"

"We can talk later." He said and took me to a limo. The coldness and the anger from before was gone, he was being quite sweet and protective. I couldn't believe that he sent bodyguards to my house and judging by what Ota had said, the situation must be serious.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

We got into the limo and it sped away. I tried to figure what to say in my mind, first I needed to apologise and get things back on track.

"Eisuke, I'm sorry." I said.

"What are you apologising for?" Eisuke said.

"Well, I got upset because you wouldn't tell me anything and then I lost my temper without really giving you a chance…"

"You don't like doing as I say, do you?" he said.

"Not really. I trust you, but I don't want to just blindly do as you say. I want to be equals with you. If you want to get married and if you want the relationship to work, we need to be equals." I said.

He gasped in surprise "You want to be equals with me?"

"Yes. Nothing will change unless that happens. I want to be in a position to support you as your wife." I continued. Eisuke just sat there listening to me.

"You make it sound like I'm being thoughtless." He said.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I know you're not being thoughtless, you're anything but. It's just sometimes, I feel like you don't trust me, or you see as weak. Well I'm not weak, I'm more then capable of being your equal."

Eisuke was silent for a moment before a small chuckle escaped his lips "Fine."

"Really?" I said, I was shocked that he so readily agreed.

"You're the only woman no, actually the only person, period, who's ever said they wanted to be my equal. We'll see how far you can go with it." He said.

"Is that a challenge? I'm ready for anything." I said.

"If you're prepared for it, I'll tell you what's going on."

"Ok, I'm ready. Bring it on." I said.

"First of all, the people targeting me are the MI6." He said.

"As in the British secret intelligence agency?" I asked.

"Yes. The person who bought the auctions is an MI6 operative."

"Really? He seemed like such a nice person."

"It was an act."

"Why did MI6 buy the auctions?" I asked.

"They wanted a certain photograph that was scheduled to be sold at the auctions in a few months. They thought if they bought auctions they would automatically get the item. But all I sold was the rights to manage the auctions, not the items being sold at them. So, they want the photograph." He explained.

"Do you have to protect this photograph from them?" I asked.

"Yes. The photograph is tied to the future of the Ichinomiya group. So I can't have them leaking that information to anyone. Since the MI6 and I aren't on good terms, me staying in England could have led to them using force. And that's why we had to come back to Japan."

Everything finally made sense, I knew he was trying to protect me but if had just explained this to me at the beginning, things wouldn't have been so difficult. I reached out and squeezed his hands.

"So can't this be solved by you just buying the auctions back?" I asked.

"That would be impossible given the contract we signed. Plus, it's the MI6 we're talking about. They could come out with some tough measures."

So it wasn't that simple after all. I sighed when I heard him chuckle.

"You really think they'll be enough to stop me?" he asked.

"Well, I assume you have a plan?"

"I'm in the middle of fighting back against them. They'll see that I mean business with the next step of my plan."

"I look forward to it." I said.

"By the way, be sure to take a bodyguard with you when you go out."

"Ok, I will." I said. At least he's letting me go out on my own and leave the hotel. It felt like we'd taken a really important step forward in our relationship.

"I can't believe you're trying to wrap me around your finger at a time like this." He said.

"I'm not doing it intentionally."

"Heh." He chuckled and planted a kiss on my lips. "That's exactly what I expect from my woman."

His kiss this time was gentle and loving. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me towards him.

"Still some marks left." He said and ran his fingers over my wrists.

"It's fine. They'll go away soon." I said.

"Hm." He said and then kissed my wrists gently. "You don't look satisfied. Do you want something else?"

"Maybe." I said and smiled.

"Good." He pressed his lips against my wrists, lifting my hands up to eye level. His lips then moved down to my fingertips, the slow, deliberate movements filled me with frustration.

"That's what you wanted, isn't it?" he said, blatantly teasing me.

I loved the feeling of his lips on my skin and I let out a little moan. I wanted me. I reached out and traced my fingers along his soft lips. My hand then went to the back of his head and I pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.

"You're so demanding." He said when we broke to catch our breath.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Hush now." He said, and we continued kissing.

It wasn't long till we arrived back at the hotel, but we kissed the whole way there, making up for the distance that was between us the past few days. The moment we got back to the Tres Spades, Eisuke started to work.

Now that I could go anywhere, as long as I had a bodyguard, I started to think about what to do. In the movies, MI6 always had a such a mysterious image. If I was going to help Eisuke, I needed to understand our enemy. But how do I go about doing that? it's not like I could just look them up on the internet. I thought for a bit when Kishi suddenly came to mind. He must know something about the MI6 which could be helpful.

On impulse, I rang Kishi and he answered straight away.

"Kishi here."

"Kishi! It's Freya."

"Damn, don't yell at me. Whaddya want?"

"I need your help." I explained the situation and his tone of voice changed drastically.

"What a damn pain in the ass. All right, I understand what you're talking about now." He said.

"I want the others to help, too."

"I'll call 'em. I'll be over there later, so you just sit tight kid."

"Thank you so much." I said and hung up. I couldn't wait to see everyone.

Eisuke was away from the penthouse but a short time later, Kishi, Baba and Ota arrive.

"Where's Soryu?" I asked.

"Couldn't get a hold of him." Kishi said.

"Oh. I guess we'll just have to give him time." I said.

"That's going to be the hardest thing. First, we need to take care of MI6." Ota said.

"Yes. Did you come all the way here from England?" I asked.

"How in the world could I get here that fast? You think I have access to some secret, super-fast jet or something?"

"I wouldn't put it past you. But then how are you here?" I said.

"I'm sure he came to Japan earlier because he was worried." Baba said.

"I was just bored over there, that's all." Ota said.

"Well, thank you all for coming. Baba, I did think that you wouldn't help though." I said.

"You know I'll always race to help you when you ask, Freya." Baba said tenderly.

"I'm the one who called you, damn it." Kishi hissed.

I couldn't help but smile, this brought back so many memories. I was sad that Soryu wasn't here but there wasn't much I could do about that. I explained the situation to them and we all started planning.

"I thought our best bet would be to buy back the auctions, but Eisuke said it's not possible due to the contract he signed." I explained.

"If money could solve this problem, Eisuke would've done it a long time ago." Ota said.

"It's not a bad place to start thought." Kishi said.

"If there's a way to circumvent the contract, that could really help us out." Baba said.

"We're talking about the MI6, though." Ota said.

"What about trying to find a weakness in the contract? We might be able to void the contract out, so that legally they never bought it in the first place." I said.

"Huh?" Ota said.

"What?" Kishi said.

"What do you mean?" Baba asked.

"Forge a fake contract and then switch them, so we have the advantage." I said.

They all then started laughing.

"Guess he's rubbed off on her." Kishi said.

"I like it. Eisuke didn't ask anyone before he did what he did, so why should we?" Ota said.

"Sounds interesting." Baba said.

"Do you think we can do it?" I said.

"I can make up the fake contract." Ota said.

"I'll get info from Interpol, and Baba can sneak into the MI6." Kishi said.

"And I'll switch the contracts." Baba said. "Sorry I got the starring role again, everybody."

"Just don't screw up." Ota said, sounding oddly serious.

"As if the Great Lupin ever would." Baba said.

"Thanks guys, you're the best." I said.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

"I've brought the contract. I think." I said and came back with a suitcase.

"You're a pretty good thief if you stole it out of Eisuke's office, Freya." Baba said with a smirk.

I set the suitcase down and fiddled with number lock till the suitcase opened. I once walked in on Eisuke opening the suitcase and I heard the different sounds the lock made, so I knew the numbers. Eisuke always kept his top secret paperwork in here and he never lets me near it.

"I didn't steal it, I just borrowed it." I said.

"Sure, sure. Just like I borrow all those pieces of art from the museum."

"Well, I'm not like you Baba."

"Shut up you two, I can't concentrate." Ota said.

"Sorry." I said.

Ota made a new contract based on the one I took from Eisuke's office.

"How are we going to sign it, though?" I asked.

"Forge it, obviously." Ota said and I assumed he did the forgery.

"You might be able to make a livin' painting counterfeits, Kisaki." Kishi said.

"Huh? As if I'd ever have to resort to that." Ota said.

"I've confirmed all the routes into MI6 headquarters." Kishi said.

"So all I have to do is switch the contracts." Baba said.

"Do you think you can do it?" I asked.

"What would you say if I said I can't?"

"I'd say, don't be such a wimp, it's not like you."

"It's not like me huh? Thanks Freya."

"I know you can do it, Baba." I said.

"Leave it to me. Well, I'll head to England now." He said.

"Ok. Are you sure we shouldn't mention this to Eisuke?" I said.

"It's not like we hid it from him. He just wasn't here." Kishi said.

"Yeah, and we just happened to write a fake contract." Ota said.

"And I just happened to take that fake contract and put it in my pocket. Right?" Baba said.

"You guys are so bad. I love it!" I said and jumped in the air smiling.

A few days later, I was sat in the penthouse anxiously waiting. So far the plan was going smoothly, but now we were just waiting for work that Baba had snuck into MI6. I kept checking my phone but he still hadn't rung me. Just then, the door opened and one of the bodyguards came in.

"Hi, can I help you?" I asked. None of the bodyguards have ever come in here before. "Is there a problem?"

He didn't say anything and started walking towards me. I saw his blurry figure get closer.

"When did he leave the country?" the man asked.

"Who?"

"I received information that your friend with the red jacket left." He said.

"Don't know who you mean. In case it wasn't obvious, I'm blind." I said and waved my hand in front of my eyes. I then stood up and tried to act as natural as possible. He must be talking about Baba and if he knew about Baba, then he must work for MI6. I needed to get away. "Anyway, I have to go."

I tried to walk past him when he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Let go of me."

"You're not going anywhere." He growled.

We started to struggle, I tried to pull my arm free but he was too strong. I gripped my cane and started hitting him with it. He threw me to the floor, before I could stand he was on top of me and placed a piece of cloth over my mouth and nose. It had a strong chemical smell. My movements started to slow before I lost consciousness.

When I started to wake up, I had a sharp pain in my head and my brain felt foggy. I tried to move when I realised that I was tied to a chair.

"Hey. What's going on? Hey!" I called out and tried to struggle free.

"You're awake." Someone said. I recognised that voice, it was the voice of the man who bought the auctions.

"You. So I guess I'm in some kind of MI6 secret place?" I said.

"So you figured that much out already?" he said.

"Yes, I'm not stupid." I said.

"But you didn't recognise me when I saw you in Japan." He said.

"When were you in Japan?" I asked.

"I enjoyed helping you win at poker."

"That was you?!"

"My disguise was pretty good, wasn't it? Sometimes I'm a millionaire, sometimes a gambler… sometimes a body guard. I'm a master of disguise."

They were spying on me this whole time? I felt so stupid.

"That's right. The MI6 are aware of everything you've done."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I've done nothing." I said.

A door then opened and I heard someone walk into the room.

"Director." The man said.

"So you got her?" the new man said.

"Yes, everything's going according to plan."

"I didn't want to be rough with you, but Ichinomiya wouldn't listen to our requests." The director said. "He knows you're with us right now. Will you tell him to give us the photograph? If you do, no harm will come to you."

Eisuke said that the photo contained information about his company, so there was no way I was doing anything. "Go to hell."

"Do you have any idea what that means?" the director said.

"I don't care. I won't help you, so go to hell."

"All right, we've done everything we could. And if that's your answer, then you'll have to take responsibility for that." The director said and then he told one of his agents to turn on a monitor. "We'll let Ichinomiya get a look at you to prove we have you. Even he'll give in if the life of his beloved is at stake."

"You bastard!" I hissed. I then felt something cold be pressed against my head, I knew what that was. It was a gun.

"Freya." Eisuke said, his voice came from the monitor.

"Can you hear me, Ichinomiya? We have your fiancée." The director said and pushed my head with the barrel of the gun.

"You want the photograph, don't you?" Eisuke said.

"Of course, but it's too late now. We'll get the photograph no matter what. You defied us and now your woman will pay for it." The director said and I heard him load the gun.

"I'll do whatever you want, just don't harm her." Eisuke said.

"Eisuke no. Don't." I said.

"Shut up. It's too late." The director said. "Any last words for him?"

"Yeah. Don't give in. No matter what. Don't give them the photograph, even if they shoot me." I said.

"Then you hang in there until you can see me succeed yourself." Eisuke said.

"I will, till the end." I said. He sounded confident, was he planning something? He would get me out of this, I'm sure of it. He always did. "I love you Eisuke. I want you to know that."

"Freya." Eisuke gasped shocked.

"Enough of the sappy goodbyes. Time to end this." The director said.

"Fuck you, you bastard!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

The director pushed the gun to my temple. I closed my eyes and waited for him to shoot.

"Goodbye Eisuke." I said.

"Stop it!" Eisuke shouted, I had never heard him sound so desperate before.

I heard a bang echo throughout the room, I waited but I felt no pain. I'm alive? That sound wasn't a gun shot, it was the door bursting open.

"Made it just in time." Soryu said as he ran into the room.

"Soryu?" I said.

"Freya, don't move." He said and then I heard a deafening gunshot, right in front of me. It was followed by the director screaming, I heard him fall to the floor with a thud and the gun was gone.

Behind him were the other auction managers.

"You bastards, how did you get here? Ichinomiya, I thought you were on a plane?" the director said.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who just assumed that." Eisuke said.

I sighed, Eisuke was here to. I knew he would have a plan, he always had a plan. I really shouldn't be surprised anymore.

"What's going on?" the director said.

"You guys suck at guessing. This was all an act to fool you." Ota said.

"We've secured all the ways out of this room." Baba said. "We've cleaned up your guys, thanks to Sor's men."

So Soryu helped as well? So they really were all back together.

"It's quite simple. We distracted you with that communication with Ichinomiya." Hishikura said.

"Pretty good performance, right?" Hikaru said.

"I think you should be an actor, Eisuke." Luke said.

"You've got to be joking." The director said.

Meanwhile, Soryu untied me and helped me to stand.

"Soryu, you came back." I said and quickly hugged him.

"I never said I was quitting."

"I thought you were never coming back." I said.

"I never said that either." He said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thank you for saving me." I said.

A big hand then grabbed mine "Come here." Eisuke said and pulled me towards him. "You went pretty far for this little thing."

"The photo." The director said.

"This is what you wanted so desperately, isn't it? The photo that accidentally had secret MI6 info on it." Eisuke said and I assumed he gave the photo to the director. Why was he handing it over when he told me he couldn't? Unless this was all part of his plan?

"The time period for the transfer has no expired." Eisuke said. "As per our contract, the auctions now revert to my control."

"What? That was never in our contract."

"It was, whether you remember it or not." Eisuke said and I heard what sounded like a piece of paper move through the air.

That must be the fake contract Ota did.

"I hereby temporarily assign the management rights over to the buyer. After the designated time period expires, all rights of ownership revert back to the seller." Eisuke read out. "This contract doesn't say anything about selling it."

"What's going on here?" the director said.

"That contract is a fake. The one I signed clearly said he was selling it." The British agent said.

"I told you it was temporary from the start." Eisuke said. "I made it clear that I just needed someone to manage the auctions temporarily because I was too busy with another project."

"Don't lie. That contract isn't valid at all." The British agent shouted.

"Your signature is on it." Ota said.

"That's not possible."

"That's your signature." The director said.

Holy crap! Ota's forged signature just fooled the director of MI6.

"Would you like to bring it to court? I can tell you right now that this contract is airtight. You'd lose." Hishikura said.

"Damn it." The director said.

"You have your photograph. I'd say your best course of action would be to drop it." Eisuke said.

"You can't let word of your failure get out, huh?" Kishi said. "Oh, by the way, we got everything you just did in this room on film. Can you imagine the uproar when the press hears about the MI6 trying to kill an innocent woman?"

"Director…" the British agent said uneasily.

"I know." The director said.

"I'm glad you understand." Eisuke said with a laugh.

With the MI6 taken care of, we all left the building. I turned and thanked everyone.

"Thanks everyone, for saving me."

"I freaked out a little when they brought you here though." Baba said.

"I expected it would happen." Eisuke said. "You have to be prepared for all possible outcomes when you're up against an MI6 agent."

"I thought you didn't know about our plan, Eisuke?" I said.

"You really think you could hide it from me?"

"So you found out about all of it? I think you should be the director of the MI6, Eisuke." Ota said.

Eisuke laughed "Good job stealing the contract from my office." He said to me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said.

"Don't play dumb with me."

"It was a coincidence. The contract was there was I got lost and walked into the room. And a fake one just happened to be made and switched at the MI6 headquarters." I said.

"Oh, really?"

"It's not like I had a choice and I do feel bad for having to steal from you." I said.

"Fine, then. Your plan saved me."

"What?"

"I had a plan of action, but it was extremely complicated and hard to pull off. Your plan was smarter and more efficient." He said.

He was complimenting me?

"You even came up with the idea of switching the contracts with a forged one. When did you become such a bad girl, hm?"

Being called a bad girl by the baddest boy I know, was the ultimate compliment.

"Thank you." I said and tears fell down my cheeks.

"What are you crying about?"

"I'm just happy that I could help you." I said.

"You didn't cry when a gun was pointed to your head, but now you're crying?"

"Oh shut up. I can cry if I want to."

"You're hopeless." He said and reached out, wiping away my tears.

"So I've been thinking, was it absolutely necessary for all of us to come?" Ota said.

"Who even asked you guys to come? I was in here the whole time." Baba said.

"Well, at least we went big, right?" Kishi said.

"Looks like we all work pretty well as a team." Hikaru said.

"It's true, we have the best results when we all work together." Hishikura said.

"No sense in changing it now, is there?" Luke said.

"I don't think so." Soryu said.

"Now that we've got the auctions back, we'll manage them. Right?" Eisuke said.

Everyone agreed.

"I'm so glad." I said.

"You're about the only one." Eisuke said and put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Now that the incident with the MI6 was over, the auction managers are back together. But there was one thing I didn't understand.

"Eisuke, I thought you didn't want to hand over the photo?"

"I didn't the photo anymore." He said but he wouldn't elaborate any further. I then heard a whirling noise coming from the sky.

"A helicopter?"

"Let's go." He said and pulled me along, with his arm still around my shoulders. But I didn't hear anyone follow behind.

"Are the others not coming?"

"Not now." He said.

"Bye Freya." Baba called out cheerfully.

We got into the helicopter and it took off.

"Where are we going? Back to the hotel?" I asked.

"You'll see." He said.

The helicopter landed and Eisuke brought me into a big warehouse. He stopped walking and in front of me I saw a big blurry object, it was about the size of a building.

"What is this?" I asked.

"A luxury cruise ship. This is what I've been spending so much time on." He said and pulled me by the hand towards the ship. So he's starting cruises now? "The photo I handed over to the MI6 was of this ship in the process of being built. I wanted to sell it in a few months at the auction, as a sort of early press release."

"And the MI6 agent just happened to be in the picture?"

"It was a total coincidence, and that's how the whole mess started."

"True. If they hadn't had been there, none of this would have happened." I said. If it wasn't for the MI6, the auction managers might never have gotten back together. And me and Eisuke's relationship might not have gotten better and I would never have tried to be his equal. This whole mess might have been a good thing.

"What are you talking about?" Eisuke asked.

"I was just thinking, I'm happy how things turned out." I said.

"It worked out well for you too, hm? I couldn't let the MI6 have the photograph, because I wasn't ready for the news of the ship to be released yet. So I had to rush construction on it to get it done just in time. Now it doesn't matter if the information leaks. So I really had no more use for that photo." He explained.

"I see."

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Of course I do."

"Good. Want to go inside?"

"Is it ready?"

"Yes, you're the first person aside from the contractors to see the inside." He said. He took my hand and lead me inside.

It was very bright when we walked in and it smelt so fresh and new. I removed my glasses and ran my hands across the walls and other bits of furniture as we walked in.

"I bet it's perfect."

"Obviously. It's a Tres Spades cruise ship, after all."

"It's huge. It's about the size of a hotel."

"It has everything a hotel has. A casino, movie, theatre, stage, bar, restaurants, spa." He said.

"Tons of people will enjoy this ship. Just as much as they enjoy the hotels. I bet it could sail all around the world." I said.

"You haven't seen the best part yet."

"There's more?" I asked.

"This way."

We went up a spiral staircases from the lobby and arrived at a large room.

"This is our room." He said, it was a penthouse suite on a cruise ship. God, this place really is like a hotel.

"So we're going to live here? Am I going to be working on this boat?"

"We can discuss the details later." He then lifted me up and set me down on a brand-new king size bed. I sunk into the sofa mattress. The sheets felt soft and smelt like fresh laundry, I ran my hands up and down the sheets.

"There's one thing I have to correct." He said and climbed on top of me. "I told your parents that I would protect you." He then gently pushed me down onto the bed, I felt him caress my cheek with his hand. "Our relationship isn't one-sided anymore with just me protecting you. Let's walk side by side from now on."

"Eisuke…" I reached up and stroked his hair, I was so happy to hear him say that. "I'm going to keep working hard to be your equal. I won't give up."

"Mm." he touched my chin before he kissed me. Our kiss grew deeper and we eagerly seek out each other's warmth. "You're going to have to work harder to my equal in this department too."

"Is that so?" I said and flipped him over so I was on top.

"Why don't you take charge for a change?" he said and relaxed back. "You don't like taking orders from me, right? Do whatever you want."

I first removed my dress, throwing it to the floor before I started unbuttoning his shirt. I pulled it off with his jacket and threw it away. He reached out, brushed my hair out of my face and hooking it loving over my ear.

"You stopped moving."

"Yeah, because of you."

"I'm just helping so your hair doesn't get in the way." He said.

Yeah right, he was teasing me again. I then removed my bra and dropped it on the floor.

"Hm. Such a nice view." He said and he reached up, taking a firm hold of my breasts.

I bent over and started kissing him, I started on his lips and then moved down to his neck. Running my tongue over his skin. I heard him moan before he put his hands on my waist and it was my turn to be on my back. We laced our fingers through each other and our passion becomes one.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Being back in London, one day after work I went up to the penthouse and found everyone except Eisuke. I was glad that everything was back to normal. I wondered where Eisuke was.

"Boss'll be back soon." Baba said.

"Thanks."

"You always look like a puppy searching for her owner when you're looking for Eisuke, Freya." Ota said.

And the teasing beginnings, I definitely didn't miss this when everyone left.

"Funny." I said sarcastically and pouted at him.

"Maybe she's just domesticated." Kishi said.

"Hah. Very funny." Soryu said. "Sometimes she still comes dangerously close to biting the hand that feeds her."

Is that how everyone saw our relationship? I listened to their very frank opinions of me, when Baba leaned forward.

"By the way, what did you two when you left MI6 headquarters?" he asked.

"Do you guys know about the Ichinomiya Group's new business venture?" I asked.

"What, the cruise ship?" Ota asked.

"Boss was pretty excited to build that huge ship." Baba said.

"He took me to the warehouse by the harbour and showed it to me."

"It's completed?" Soryu asked.

"Yes, we went inside. I think it's almost done."

"Can't believe you're the first one he showed it to." Kishi said.

"Guess we're chopped liver." Ota said. "Whatever, it's not like I care or anything."

"So how was it?" Baba asked.

So they hadn't seen it yet? Eisuke showed me first? I felt quite important at that moment.

"It was amazing. It's basically the boat version of the Tres Spades." I said.

"Wow, so how were the beds?" Baba asked.

"Really soft."

"Oh? So you tried out the beds with Eisuke, then?" Ota said with a chuckled.

Oh, me and my big mouth. Ota and Baba laughed at me and I realised that they did that on purpose.

"Oh shut up. You guys did that on purpose. That's entrapment."

"Nah, not even close. I couldn't book 'em for that." Kishi said with a chuckle just as the door opened.

"What's all the commotion about?" Eisuke asked as he strode into the room.

"Oh, welcome back Eisuke." I said and turned to greet him.

"We were just talking about the new cruise ship." Baba said. "I can't believe you didn't show us around yet, Boss."

"I'll show it to you soon enough." Eisuke said before he walked over to me. "I need to talk to you."

"Ok, let's go upstairs-" before I could even finish my sentence, he lifted me up into his arms and slung me over to his shoulder. "Hey, let me down. I can walk you know."

"You've lost weight." He murmured into my ear as he carried me away.

"What? I have?" now that he mentions it, some of my clothes had gotten slightly looser lately. It's been so hectic lately, I hadn't really been eating much.

"I don't like it when girls get too skinny." Kishi said.

"She eats like a horse, so I'm surprised she can stay that thin." Soryu said.

"I don't eat that much."

"She lost weight because you stressed her out, Eisuke." Ota said.

Eisuke ignored all the comments from the peanut gallery as he climbed the stairs to our room. When we got upstairs, he put me down on the sofa.

"I want to talk about your parents." He said.

"Oh ok."

"I told them I'd meet with them again the last time I was at your house, remember? So I want to decide on the day to do that." he said and sat down next to me.

"Oh ok. When were you thinking?"

"We have to make sure it's a day that works for your schedule and your parents' as well. So just let me know a day that's convenient for you."

"Ok, I'll ring them and ask." I said. Since when did Eisuke let me set our schedule? Up until now, he'd just throw me onto a plane without telling me anything or take me out of the hotel and we'd go where ever he wanted to go. And he never really cared if it was convenient for me. He really has changed. "I should be able to trade my shifts next week and I'm sure my parents will be free. I'm pretty sure that weekend should work."

"I really wanted Akira to come along, but he's on a business trip right now and can't get away. He told me to tell you how sorry he is that he couldn't make it, but he'll definitely be there for the engagement ceremony."

"Oh that's ok, I understand." I said. He actually tried to get Akira to come, I couldn't believe this. It was nice to see him be serious about this "I'll call my mum right now."

"Mm. You can go ahead and tell her about my background, too."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"She should know all about me if we're going to get married." He said. "It'll be better if she knows in advance before she meets Akira."

"Ok." I took out my cell phone and call home, my mum answered right away.

"Hi Freya."

"Hi mum. I'm here with Eisuke and we're trying to plan to come see you. Are you free any time next week?" I asked.

"Hang on one second. Let's see, next week…" she then told me the days that she and dad were free. "Eisuke wanted to bring his father, but he's on a business trip right now and can't come."

"Oh that's ok. Tell him we appreciate the thought."

"Great. Also, I wanted to let you know that Eisuke's dad, Akira, is actually his adopted father and…" I explained Eisuke's family situation and mum listened patiently.

"Yes, I understand. Thanks for telling me. We're looking for to seeing you both." She said.

"Ok, I'll call you next week before we leave." I said and hung up. "She's looking forward to seeing you again." I said to Eisuke.

"Great."

"Thank you for keeping your promise so soon." I said and he squeezed my left hand.

"If you're grateful, show me with your actions instead of your words." He said and pushed me down to the sofa. He started to unbutton my blouse, his fingers stopped at my engagement ring that hung on a chain around my neck. "Work's over. Put it on."

"Ok." I took my ring off and slipped it on my finger, but it automatically twisted around. "Whoops."

"See? I knew you'd lost weight." He took my hand and touched my loose ring. "Should I get it resized?"

"No, I'm sure I'll regain the weight. I'll just put it back on the necklace." As soon as I did that, Eisuke continued to undress me.

"Don't loose any more weight without my permission." He as he removed my clothes.

"It's not like I did it on purpose." I said and removed his jacket and shirt.

Several nights later, before dinner, I decided to go to a boutique with Becca to pick out a dress to wear for when me and Eisuke see my parents.

"Why is clothes shopping so difficult?" I said.

"You make it difficult. Clothes shopping should be something to enjoy." She said.

She took me to a rack and picked out a few dresses for me to try on. She pushed me to the changing rooms and made me try on the dresses. In the end, she made me buy two dresses with some shoes to match. After, we went out for lunch.

A few days before we go back to Japan, I was thinking about what presents we should take to my parents house. We were sat in the lounge.

"We should bring them something." I said.

"Just pick some candy and tea out of the airport before we leave." Eisuke said.

"But it would be nice if we got them something a little unusual like an antique." I said.

"If you start picking out antiques now, we'll be here forever. You want to waste all the time we have left before we leave on picking out a gift?" he said.

"I won't take that much time."

"They've been to England before, so you should give them a typical souvenir they'd be familiar with." He said.

"Yeah, that's true. Cookies or tea would make the most sense. Fine, I'll just buy something at the airport."

"Yes, you should do that." he said.

A few days later, we were on a private jet going to Japan. I wanted to get some sleep on the way there, but I was too nervous and I couldn't sleep.

"You're awfully restless today." Eisuke said.

"I'm just nervous."

"Why are you nervous now? I'll distract you so that you don't even have time to be nervous." He said and slipped a hand around my waist and yanked me close to him.

"Eisuke, not now." I said but he didn't stop and started stripping me.

"You have plenty of time to get dressed again and I'll re-do your hair for you." He said. He took my necklace off and removed the ring. "Put the ring back on before we get there."

"Ok." I held up my hand and he slipped it back on, but it was still loose.

"Still loose, hm?" he said before running his hands down my body.

What the hell? I pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

We arrived at the airport, I straightened myself out. "Are you sure I look ok?"

"Yes, you look fine." Eisuke said as we walked through the airport

"Freya, Mr Ichinomiya, over here." Mum shouted.

"Mum. Dad." I said and hugged them.

"Thanks for coming all this way." Dad said.

"Of course. I'm sorry for the short notice." Eisuke. He sounded so formal.

"Thank you for coming to meet us." I said.

"We didn't really have a choice. Mr Ichinomiya's sent a car to our house." Dad said.

"Really?" I said.

"Thank you so much for going through all that trouble." Mum said.

"I just thought you'd want to see Freya right away. The car should still be waiting for us. Let's go." Eisuke said.

I slipped my arm through Eisuke's and we left the airport. I didn't expect him to be this efficient, he really did think of everything. We climbed into the back of the limo and gave my parents the souvenirs I brought back from England.

"Thank you sweetheart." Mum said.

"It's been a while since we've had good English tea." Dad said.

They seemed thrilled by their gifts.

The limo took us from the airport to a fancy restaurant on the top floor of a luxury department store.

"We've been waiting for you, Mr Ichinomiya." A staff member said.

"Why is the place so empty this time of day?" Mum asked.

"We're the only ones here, so go ahead and enjoy yourselves." Eisuke said.

"You rented out the whole restaurant?" I asked.

"I don't do it very often, only on special occasions." Eisuke said and waiter showed us to our table.

"So Freya, enjoying eating English food or do you prefer Japanese food?" mum asked as we sat down.

"Um… I like both. We have a special chef at the Tres Spades London who prepares Japanese food for us as well as English food. So I get the best of both worlds." I said.

"We have the freshest ingredients you can't get anywhere else." Eisuke said.

"Well that's nice." Mum said.

Everyone ordered and the waiter filled out glasses with champagne.

"First, let's start with a toast. Would you do the honour?" Eisuke said.

"Ok. Here's to our new family." Dad said.

"Cheers." We lightly clink our glasses and each took a sip.

"Mm." this was delicious champagne.

"Please let me apologise again for delaying our meeting. There's something I want to tell you about before I ask for your daughter's hand in marriage." Eisuke said. I heard him move around in the chair. "I know she told you this over the phone before, but I just wanted to let you know again that I'm not Akira Ichinomiya's biological son. He adopted me and raised me as his own."

"Yes, Freya told us." Mum said.

"My real parents had a successful business but it went bankrupt because of certain circumstances. And after my mother's death, my real father left. Akira Ichinomiya adopted me and took me in. I know that I grew up in unique circumstances, but I just wanted to let you know that I want to have a normal, loving family with Freya."

"Eisuke." I gasped, this was the first time he had ever said anything like that.

"I'm very happy that you chose Freya to be your wife." Mum said.

"I'm happy she's found a good man, who can look after her when I can't. And after everything that happened, I'd be proud to call you my son." Dad said.

"Thank you so much. May I call you mum and dad?" Eisuke asked.

"Of course you can and we'll call you Eisuke." Dad said.

"Is that ok Eisuke?" I said.

"Yes, call me whatever you like." He said, his voice quivered. He must be nervous, I reached under the table and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Great, it's settled." Mum said cheerfully.

After we ate, we went downstairs to the store and decided to have a look around.

"It's been a long time since I've been in a large department store like this." Mum said.

"That's because you always spend too much money." Dad said as we walked around.

"Eisuke, I would like to get some Japanese souvenirs for some of my friends in London." I said.

"How about sake? You can't beat some good old fashioned sake." Dad said.

"But George, I want to go look at clothes." Mum said.

"No, let's go to the liquor store." Dad said. "And I need more cigars."

"How about we split up? I'll go with Freya and you two can go where you want." Eisuke suggested.

"No, we're here today to spend time with Freya. George, you can buy your cigars and alcohol another time. Let's go with Freya." Mum said.

"Your right. Let's go." Dad said and pushed me and mum along.

"We can help you choose your gifts for your friends." Mum said.

Eisuke followed along behind, I could tell that he didn't get it. Wasting time shopping when he could be doing something else.

Mum dragged me from shop to shop, we started shopping for gifts but we ended up shopping for ourselves.

"Freya, these shoes would be perfect for you. We should get matching pairs." She said.

"What's the point? It's not like I can see them." I said.

"But they're really nice. Oh how about these?" she dragged me along the shop.

Meanwhile, dad and Eisuke stood not far watching us shop.

"Never get my wife in a shop, we'll be here for hours. Especially if Freya's here, she likes to dress Freya up." Dad said to Eisuke.

"Hm." Eisuke said in response.

I managed to slip away from my mum and found Eisuke talking to my dad.

"I'm sorry, you guys must be bored." I said.

"I can see that the apple didn't fall very far from the tree." Eisuke said, which made my dad laugh.

"Shut up dad, don't laugh." I said which made him laugh harder.

"Maybe I should have warned Eisuke before we brought you and your mother here."

"Freya, come here." Mum said and she grabbed me and pulled me along.

"Mum, how much more are you going to get? Remember, we're here for gifts." I reminded her.

"Oh I know, but look, this dress would be nice on you." She said and I felt her hold a dress up to me. "What do you think Eisuke?"

"Yes, it looks nice." Eisuke said.

We finally left the store and headed back to the car.

"I wish Lucy could have come." I said to mum.

"Yes but she's working. She sends her love though. I'm sorry we took so long shopping, Eisuke."

"No not at all. I'm looking forward to our formal engagement ceremony. I'm sure my father will be there." Eisuke said.

"I can't wait. George, I'll need to buy a dress for the party and you'll need a new suit."

"We've just been shopping." Dad said with a heavy sigh.

"Yes, but that wasn't for our daughter's engagement ceremony." She said.

Dad sighed again making me laugh. "Please tell your father hell from us. We can't wait to meet him." Dad said. "He must be a good man so raise you to be such a nice young man."

"Thank you. I'll tell him how wonderful you two are." Eisuke said. He showed them to a separate car he called to take them home and made sure they got in safely.

"Bye mum, bye dad." I said and hugged them goodbye before the car drove off. "Eisuke."

"What?"

"Thank you so much for everything today. I'm so happy."

"Are you?" he asked.

I never expected him to treat my family like that, it was amazing.

"I thought you might be shopping until the store closed, but it didn't take quite that long, hm?"

"Oh stop it." I said punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"You really are a lot like your parents."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Slowness seems to run in your family… and now it's my problem. Let's go back to the hotel." He said and slipped his arm around my shoulders and we headed to the car.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

When we returned to the Tres Spades Mr Kenzaki greeted us at the lobby and Eisuke walked off with him.

"It's nice to be back." I said. Hopefully this time I could see Sakiko before we headed back to London. I headed up to the penthouse when Sakiko called my name.

"Freya?"

"Sakiko?"

She came up to me in the lobby and gave me a hug. "Where did you go? You just disappeared the other day."

"Sorry." I said. After I was kidnapped by MI6 we went straight back to London, I did text her to explain that I was going back to London.

"I wish you'd tell me when you're gonna be in town."

"Sorry, I wasn't sure how long we were going to be in Japan for." I said.

"You're here with Mr Ichinomiya?"

"Yeah but I think he's gone off to do some work with Mr Kenzaki. Oh, wait I have something for you."

"Oh a gift? Let me see." She said.

We were stood by the fountain in the lobby, I could hear the rushing water. I put my purse down on the edge and rummaged around, looking for a small gift bag. But then I felt a pulling sensation on my finger, I realised it was my engagement ring getting caught on my purse.

"Oh no!" it slipped off my finger and fell into the water. "No, no no no!"

"Freya, what's wrong?"

I reached into the fountain and started reaching around in the water.

"My ring, it fell in." I said. I leaned further into the water and started using both hands to search for the ring, the water was starting to splash on my face and make my hair wet.

"Are you trying to fall in too?" Eisuke suddenly appeared behind me and he grabbed onto my waist, stopping me from leaning in further.

"Let go." I said and tried to push him off.

"Honestly, I can't take my eyes off you for a second, can I?"

"Let go." I said and tried to wriggle free, the only way I was going to find the ring was to climb into the fountain. I tried to lift my leg to climb in when Eisuke pulled me back.

"Stay here." He said, he released me and then I heard a loud splash. Did he just jump into the fountain?

"Mr Ichinomiya?" Sakiko gasped.

"Did he just jump into the fountain?" I asked her.

"Yes." He said.

I could hear people whispering to each other and talking about him.

"Here it is." Eisuke said, he stepped out of the fountain and slipped my ring back on my finger "That's why I told you we should have it re-sized."

"You're soaking wet." I said and felt his wet suit.

"Don't worry about me. Just make sure you don't drop it again." He said and held my left hand firmly.

"Why would you do that?"

"Isn't there something you want to say instead?" he asked.

"Oh right. Thank you so much for getting my ring back."

"I'd wish you'd listen to me from now on." He said.

"I will but why did you do that Eisuke? Normally you would've just asked the custodian to get it for you or I could have gone into the fountain myself." I said.

"I thought about it but, the most important thing about making a decision is how you feel, right?"

"What?"

So he made an emotional decision and not a rational one? He's been acting that way a lot lately, he's always valued efficiency over emotion. When did he change?

"Freya, you guys are making a scene." Sakiko said.

I didn't even notice the crowd of people surrounding us.

"Wait, isn't that guy who's all wet over there Mr Ichinomiya?"

"Shouldn't someone bring him a towel?"

"Eisuke, we should probably go up to the penthouse and get you changed." I said.

"Yeah." He agreed.

"Sorry about this." I said and we headed to the penthouse elevator.

When we got back to the penthouse, I took Eisuke's jacket off.

"You should take a shower. I can get you a change of clothes." I said. I turned to go to our bedroom when Eisuke grabbed my wrist.

"Wait." He said.

"What?"

"Whose fault do you think it is that I got this way? Take care of it."

"That's what I'm trying to do." I said when he started to lead me towards the bathroom.

I ended up taking a bath with him. The warm water felt so good, Eisuke had his arms around my back, holding me securely against him.

"Yep, now I can definitely tell that you've lost weight. You were always kind of a beanpole, though."

"Thanks." I said sarcastically.

He slid his hands up and cupped my breast.

"What, you think I lost weight there to?"

"Hm, I'll have to give them a closer look." He said with a smirk.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips "Thank you for getting my ring back for me."

My finger was bare since I took my ring off before I got into the bath. Eisuke took hold of my left hand, moved around and ran his fingers up and down my finger.

"You were pale as a ghost, I couldn't bare to see you like that." he said.

"My ring got caught on my purse when I set it down and it slipped off." I said.

"So that's why you were about to jump in."

"Yeah, I was about to jump in before you showed up." I said.

He then sighed "Well, your finger is so plain. It's be a total embarrassment to have you walking around with a ring on it." He then kissed my ring finger. "I think you should take some time off work, we can travel around the world to eat the finest cuisine."

"If we did that I wouldn't even be able to get the ring back on my finger."

He started to nibble at my finger and then he moved to my ear. My body jumped in response and he wrapped his arms back around me.

"I'm going to check to see all the places on your body where you've lost weight."

The next morning, I woke up in Eisuke's arms. Still feeling sweet aftershocks from the night before. I don't remember too much of what happened after we got out of the tub, but I knew he didn't hold back and neither did I. I yawned and stretched, I pulled the duvet back over me when I noticed that my left ring finger felt heavier then normal. With my right hand, I felt my finger. Two rings? There was a ring that fitted me perfect, it sat snugly above the loose one, stopping it from slipping off.

"What is it?" Eisuke asked, sounding sleepy.

"Sorry that I woke you. When did you put a second ring on my finger?"

"I got you another band ,so your engagement ring doesn't fall off again. You were out like a light last night, so I called the hotel jewellery store. I don't want to have to jump into another fountain."

I cradled my hand against my chest "Thank you. I'll take good care of both of them."

"Didn't I tell you to thank me with actions instead of words?" he tugged me towards him and I fell into his arms. I gave him a soft kiss on his lips before I straddled him.

After we got back to England, we went straight to the penthouse. I needed to give the guys their presents.

"Welcome home, Eisuke. Heard you had some fun in the water in Japan." Ota laughed.

Baba joined in with the laugher.

How did they find out?

"Did you remember to make a wish in the fountain?" Ota asked.

"Why do people always have the urge to throw coins in the water, I wonder?" Baba said.

Eisuke didn't even say anything, he ignored them and headed up the stairs to our suite.

"You guys are terrible. You shouldn't tease him so much." I said.

"But it's so much fun." Ota said.

"Oh Freya, did you get another engagement ring?" Baba asked.

"Yes I did."

"Two engagement rings? You must really be in love." Ota said.

Now I know why Eisuke always complained about how noisy they were. I turned and followed Eisuke up to our suite.


End file.
